This list is an attempt to list the most famous and influential science fiction/fantasy writers. Although this list certainly includes the giants of the field, such as Asimov, Heinlein, Card, and Clarke, it does not necessarily include all writers of outstanding literary merit. Some of the "famous" science fiction and fantasy writers on this list may be included because they have been particularly prolific or have had significant influence on the field.

Obviously this is a somewhat subjective list, but a large variety of resources have been consulted: awards lists, historical commentaries, university literature course materials, best seller lists, internet portals and other web sites, etc. Most of these references have been summarized on the Famous Science Fiction Authors: Criteria Lists page.

A few people are included on this list because they are very famous and they have written science fiction/fantasy, but they aren't necessarily famous primarily for their SF/F writing. The authors in this category are Carl Sagan, Anne Perry, G. K. Chesterton, Stephen King, George Lucas, Deepak Chopra, Glen A. Larson, J. Michael Straczynski and Andrew Greeley.

The primary criteria for inclusion on this list has been fame and influence, not literary merit. Few people would rank the science fiction novels of Carl Sagan or George Lucas on the same level as those of C. J. Cherryh or Gene Wolfe, but Sagan and Lucas are much more well known to the general public, outside the SF/F audience.

Book titles shown in Typewriter font face are on in the Modern Library Board's "Readers' Survey of the Best 100 Novels of the Century." Books and stories in bold have won Hugo awards. Books and stories in purple have won Nebula awards. World Fantasy Awards are in green. Locus awards are in red. "B-a-M reviews" indicate how many entries there are for this author in the SF/F Book-A-Minute series, as of Nov. 29, 1999.

Authors which have not won Hugo, Nebula or World Fantasy awards are not necessarily less talented or less significant than other authors. Some of these authors pre-date contemporary awards, but are major figures in the development of the field: Mary Shelley, H.G. Wells, Jules Verne, etc. Some authors may not have won major awards, but are very widely read.

[1 B-a-M review] Hitchhiker's "Trilogy" (Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy[Ranked 88th in the Internet Top 100 Survey, Cooke, Oct. 1999. Hitchhiker's was ranked 10th in Amazon.com's Best SF/F Books of the Century; Ranked 6th at SF Vote]; The Restaurant at the End of the Universe; Life, the Universe and Everything; So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish; Mostly Harmless); Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency. Hitchhiker's Guide was adapted to big-budget movie (2005), and was previously written by Adams for popular radio and TV adaptations.

Lloyd Alexander

Christian (denomination unknown)

[3 B-a-M reviews]; The Black Cauldron (Newbery Medal Honor; Child's Study Association for America's Children's Books of the Year); Taran Wanderer; (School Library Journal's Best Book of the Year); The High King (Newbery Medal; Child's Study Association for America's Children's Books of the Year; National Book Award Finalist; American Book Award Finalist for Fiction); Westmark (American Book Award); The Kestrel (American Book Award Nominee); The Fortune-tellers (Boston Globe-Horn Book Award); The Wizard in the Tree; August Bondi: Border Hawk (Nat'l Jewish Book Award); plus other awards.

The Saturn Game (1982); Hunter's Moon (1979); Goat Song (1973); Operation Luna; Operation Chaos; Fire Time; The Boat of a Million Years; The Day of Their Return; The Devil's Game; The Fleet of Stars; Harvest of Stars; Harvest the Fire; Inconstant Star; A Knight of Ghosts and Shadows; No Truce with Kings; The Queen of Air and Darkness (1972); The Sharing of Flesh (1969); "No Truce with Kings" (1964); "The Longest Voyage" (1961); The Shield of Time; Starfarers; The Stars Are Also Fire; War of the Gods; The Gods Laughed; Anderson was ranked 12th on the ISFDB Top 100 Authors list.

[4 B-a-M reviews] Asimov is one of history's most prolific authors, and has published in nearly every conceivable field. Foundation series (Hugo, 1966), including Foundation's Edge (1983) [Ranked 75th in ISFDB Top 100 Novels. The Foundation Trilogy was ranked 60th in the Internet Top 100 Survey, Cooke, Oct. 1999. Foundation was ranked 9th in Amazon.com's Best SF/F Books of the Century; Ranked 2nd by at SF Vote.]; Robots novels (including The Caves of Steel, which was ranked 11th at SF Vote, and I, Robot, ranked 25th); The Stars Like Dust; Nightfall; Asimov: A Memoir; "Gold" (1992); Foundation's Edge (1983); "The Bicentennial Man" (1977); The Gods Themselves (1973) [Ranked 14th at SF Vote. Ranked 33rd in ISFDB Top 100 Novels]; The Mule (1946)

Influential writer of "Oz" series (children's novels), whose writing has spawned numerous film, TV and stage adaptations, including The Wizard of Oz (1939), one of most popular and widely-seen movies ever made. Oz books Baum wrote are: The Wonderful Wizard of Oz; The Marvelous Land of Oz; Ozma of Oz; Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz; The Road to Oz; The Emerald City of Oz; The Patchwork Girl of Oz; Tik-Tok of Oz; The Scarecrow of Oz; Rinkitink in Oz; The Lost Princess of Oz; The Tin Woodman of Oz; The Magic of Oz; Glinda of Oz. Other authors later continued series, eventually leading to the "Famous Forty" books which are considered "canonical." Baum's non-Oz fantasy books include: Dot and Tot of Merryland; American Fairy Tales; The Master Key: An Electric Fairy Tale; The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus; The Magical Monarch of Mo; The Enchanted Island of Yew; Queen Zixi of Ix; John Dough and the Cherub; The Sea Fairies; Sky Island. Other books include: The Maid of Arran (play); The Book of Hamburgs (poultry guide); By the Candelabra's Glare (poetry); Mother Goose in Prose; Father Goose: His Book; The Army Alphabet; The Navy Alphabet; Songs of Father Goose; The Art of Decorating Dry Goods Windows and Interiors.

[Beyond Bova's considerable body of writing, he is well known as one of the best, most influential SF editors of the last few decades of the 20th century. He has won 6 Hugo awards in the Professional Editor" category.]; [1 B-a-M review] Return To Mars; Moonwar; Moonrise; Mars; Brothers; Orion Among the Stars. Non-fiction: Immortality; Welcome to Moonbase; Assured Survival

A Case of Conscience (1959. This is one of the main classics in religious sf.); Cities in Flight; The Seedling Stars; large body of Star Trek scripts, novels and stories; "Surface Tension"; "Common Time"; "How Beautiful with Banners"; Earthman Come Home

Mists of Avalon(#15 on Amazon.com's list of the "25 Best Science Fiction and Fantasy Books of the Century"); Darkover series; The Colors of Space; Tiger Burning Bright; many more books; Founder of her own popular fantasy magazine.

Startide Rising (1984) [Also: Locus Award. Ranked 21st by SF Vote]; The Uplift War (1988); Earth; The Postman (1985) [Won 1st place Campbell Award. Made into the 1997 feature film directed by and starring Kevin Costner. Won commendation from the American Library Association.]; Sundiver; The Practice Effect; Heart of the Comet; Earth; Glory Season; Otherness (anthology); "The Crystal Spheres"; Brightness Reef; Infinity's Shore; Transparent Society; Heaven's Reach; Foundation's Triumph; Some of these novels have received Nebula, Hugo, or Locus nominations without winning.

Terry Brooks

?

[6 B-a-M reviews]; Shannara series [The Sword of Shannara (1977) was the first work of fiction to appear on the New York Times trade paperback bestseller list, remaining there for five months.]; "Magic Kingdom Of Landover" series (including Magic Kingdom For Sale--Sold!); Witches' Brew; A Knight of the Word; Running With the Demon; best-selling novelization of Star Wars Episode 1: The Phantom Menace; novelization of movie Hook

[NOTE: Chesterton was not primarily known as a science fiction/fantasy writer, but much of his work is classified as SF/F.] The Man Who Knew Too Much; Manalive; The Oracle of the Dog; How I Found the Superman; The Shop Of Ghosts. Some of his non-fiction works: Heretics; Orthodoxy [In 1999 Orthodoxy was in the Top 10 of the Harper-Collins list of 100 Best Spiritual Books of the Century.]; What's Wrong With the World; The Everlasting Man; St. Thomas Aquinas; The Catholic Church and Conversion

Deepak Chopra

Hindu

Chopra is famous as a health/spirituality/wellness guru who promotes Indian/Hindu techniques and philosophies. He has written many books about those subjects. Little known is the fact that he has authored one mainstream fantasy novel, The Return of Merlin (1995), in which Merlin and King Arthur's Camelot suddenly appear in contemporary times.

[NOTE: Crichton is such a successful novelist, and has published so successfully in the non-genre press, that he is rarely labeled a "science fiction writer". Yet many of his novels are clearly science fiction, regardless of how they may have been marketed.]; [2 B-a-M reviews]; A Case of Need; Airframe; Congo; Jurassic Park (1994 Hugo for Best Dramatic Presentation); Disclosure; Eaters of the Dead; Lost World; Sphere; Rising Sun; The Andromeda Strain; The Great Train Robbery

[Primarily recognized for short fiction. He was an influential editor of The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction from 1962 to 1965. During his tenure, the magazine received a Hugo Award in 1963] "Or All the Seas With Oysters" (Hugo 1958). "Help! I Am Dr. Morris Goldpepper"; "In Brass Valley"; "Pebble in Time" (alternative history about the Latter-day Saints settling in the San Francisco valley instead of Utah). Rogue Dragon (Nebula nominee); Won an Edgar award (for mystery) for "The Affair at Lahore Cantonment". Masters of the Maze; Joyleg; Vergil in Averno; Ursus of Ultima Thule; The Phoenix and the Mirror; The Island Under the Earth; Peregrine: Secundus;"The Boss in the Wall" (1998 Nebula Nominee); "The Necessity of His Condition" (Queen's Award); Clash of Star-Kings (Nebula nominee); The Enquiries of Doctor Eszterhazy (1975); "Naples" (1978) Recipient of the 1975 Lifetime Achievement Award of the World Fantasy Convention. Anderson was ranked 83rd on the ISFDB Top 100 Authors list.

[1 B-a-M review] The Man in the High Castle (1963); Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? (The movie Blade Runner, based on this story, won the 1983 Hugo for Best Dramatic Presentation); Radio Free Albemuth; The Transmigration of Timothy Archer; The Divine Invasion; VALIS; "Second Variety" (made into movie Screamers); "We Can Remember it for You Wholesale" (made into movie Total Recall); 1967 British SF Award for The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch; Flow My Tears, The Policeman Said (Campbell Award 1st place in 1975); and the 1979 British SF Award for A Scanner Darkly (also won Campbell Award 3rd place); [Ubik was ranked 48th in the Internet Top 100 Survey, Cooke, as of Oct. 1999. Ranked 24th in Amazon.com's Best SF/F Books of the Century]

[1 B-a-M review] Deathbird Stories; Strange Wine; Approaching Oblivion; "'Repent, Harlequin!' Said the Ticktockman" (1966); "City on the Edge of Forever" (Star Trek, 1968. Hugo Award for best dramatic presentation); "I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream" (1968); "The Beast That Shouted Love at the Heart of the World" (1969); "Adrift Just Off the Islets of Langerhans" (1975); "Paladin of the Lost Hour" (1986); "Jeffty Is Five" (1977/1978); "The Deathbird" (1974); "A Boy and His Dog (1969); Angry Candy (1989); Slippage (1997); 1993 World Fantasy Life Achievement Award; [Dangerous Visions was ranked 46th in the Internet Top 100 Survey, Cooke, as of Oct. 1999.]; Ellison was ranked 9th on the ISFDB Top 100 Authors list.

[NOTE: Greeley's fame is not primarily as a science fiction writer, but as a sociologist, journalist, outspoken parish priest, and writer of non-sf/f.] An Epidemic of Joy; Angel Light; Blackie At The Sea; Happy are the Oppressed; Irish Lace; Irish Gold; Irish Whiskey; Summer at the Lake; White Smoke; Windows: A Prayer Journal; Contract with an Angel; Starbright; A Midwinter's Tale

[2 B-a-M reviews] Citizen of the Galaxy; Double Star (1956); Starship Troopers (1960); Stranger in a Strange Land (1962) [Ranked 23rd in Amazon.com's Best SF/F Books of the Century. Ranked 15th in ISFDB Top 100 Novels; Ranked 31st in the Amazon.com Millennium Poll.]; The Door Into Summer; The Moon is a Harsh Mistress (1967) [Ranked 16th in the Internet Top 100 Survey, Cooke, Oct. 1999. 3 other works were on this list. Ranked 5th at SF Vote. 3 other works were in the top 25 at SF Vote. Ranked 43rd in ISFDB Top 100 Novels]; The Puppet Masters; Job: A Comedy of Justice (1985)

[Arizona teacher/writer.] Author of dozens of stories (most now found in collections still in print): The Anything Box; Holding Wonder; The People: No Different Flesh; Pilgrimage: The Book of the People. "The People" (a television movie starring William Shatner), was based on her series. Also, Disney's "Escape to Witch Mountain" movies are attributed to Henderson and/or Key. Among her dozens of People stories are "Ad Astra"; "Angels Unawares"; "Ararat"; "Come On, Wagon!"; "Crowning Glory"; "Gilead"; "Jordan"; "Pottage"; and "Captivity" (1959 Hugo Nominee). [Web site]

[4 B-a-M reviews] Dragonlance series (With Margaret Weis; Over 12 million sold worldwide. Bestsellers on New York Times, Locus, Walden and B. Dalton, Publishers Weekly lists); Requiem of Stars; The Immortals; Deathgate Cycle series (with Margaret Weis); Starcraft no. 3: Speed of Darkness; The Bronze Canticles; Darksword series (New York Times Best Seller)

L. Ron Hubbard

founder of Scientology

[Created the Writers of the Future Contest. Had over 100 million books in print when he died. Official website: http://www.lronhubbard.org] Battlefield Earth (1982 Golden Scroll Award); Mission Earth series; Fear; Typewriter in the Sky; The End Is Not Yet; The Kingslayer; Return to Tomorrow; Ole Doc Methuselah (1992 Golden Scroll Award)

Robert Jordan

?

[Real name: James Oliver Rigney, Jr.]; [4 B-a-M reviews]; Historical novels (under name Reagan O'Neal): The Fallon Blood, the Fallon Pride, the Fallon Legacy. Sequels to Robert Howard's Conan the Barbarian series. Wheels of Time fantasy series (Eye of the World; The Great Hunt; The Dragon Reborn; The Shadow Rising; The Fires of Heaven; Lord of Chaos; A Crown of Swords; etc.)

NOTE: King is normally classified a horror writer, although much of his work could certainly be classified as science fiction/fantasy. He is said to have created his own genre. Major books include: It[Ranked 73rd in ISFDB Top 100 Novels]; The Stand[Ranked 6th in Amazon.com's Millennium Poll]; Bag of Bones. Danse Macabre (Hugo for non-fiction, 1982); "The Man in the Black Suit" (1995); King was ranked 15th on the ISFDB Top 100 Authors list.

[NOTE: Larson is famous primarily as the creator of the movie and TV series "Battlestar Galactica", and other shows such as "Knight Rider", "Automan", "Buck Rogers in the 25th Century", "Manimal", "The Six Million Dollar Man" and "Night Man". He produced many non-SF shows, including "Magnum P.I.", One West Waikiki", "The Fall Guy", "B.J. and the Bear", "The Hardy Boys Mysteries", "Quincy, M.E.", and "The Virginian" (later named "The Men from Shiloh"). Larson's work as a SF/F novelist is less well-known.] Books: Battlestar Galactica series (including the New York Times-best selling novelization of the pilot/movie, as well as: Apollo's War; The Cylon Death Machine; Experiment in Terra; The Living Legend, etc.); Knight Rider series (including Knight Rider; Hearts of Stone; Trust Doesn't Rust); The Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew Meet Dracula (Made into a film in 1977.)

Madeleine L'Engle

Anglican

A Wrinkle in Time (winner of the Newbery Award); A Wind in the Door; A Swiftly Tilting Planet (other books in same universe: The O'Keefe Family Series; The Austin Family Series and more); Ilsa; The Journey with Jonah; The Sphinx at Dawn; 1997 World Fantasy Life Achievement Award

[1 B-a-M review] The Left Hand of Darkness (1970) [Ranked 13th in Amazon.com's Best SF/F Books of the Century; Ranked 25th in ISFDB Top 100 Novels]; Earthsea Trilogy (A Wizard of Earthsea was ranked 84th in the Internet Top 100 Survey, Cooke, Oct. 1999.)); Tehanu: The Last Book of Earthsea, 1990 [Ranked 86th in ISFDB Top 100 Novels; World Fantasy Award]; Three Hainish Novels; "Buffalo Gals, Won't You Come Out Tonight" (1988; also World Fantasy Award); The Dispossessed (1975) [also Locus award], [Ranked 94th in the Internet Top 100 Survey, Cooke, as of Oct. 1999. Ranked 6th in ISFDB Top 100 Novels; 1975 Campbell Award 2nd place]; "The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas" (1974); "The Word for World Is Forest" (1973); "The Day Before the Revolution" (1974); "Solitude" (1995); "Foregiveness Day" (1995 Sturgeon Award); The Lathe of Heaven (1972) [Ranked 64th in ISFDB Top 100 Novels]; Le Guin was ranked 2nd on the ISFDB Top 100 Authors list.

Acclaimed Polish author, many of whose novels and stories have been adapted to film, including Solaris; One Human Minute; "Victim of the Brain"; "Hospital of the Transfiguration". Other books include: Eden; The Astronauts; The Chain of Chance; The Cyberiad; Fiasco; The Futurological Congress; Golem XIV; Eyewitness Account; The Investigation; The Magellan Nebula; Peace on Earth; Mortal Engines; The Star Diaries; Tales of Pirx the Pilot; etc.

[7 B-a-M review] Space Trilogy; The Narnia Chronicles [The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe was ranked 71st in the Internet Top 100 Survey, Cooke, as of Oct. 1999.]; The Screwtape Letters; The Great Divorce; The Dark Tower and Other Stories. [In 1999 Mere Christianity and the Chronicles of Narnia were both in the Harper-Collins list of 100 Best Spiritual Books of the Century.]

Lucas is certainly not famous as an author, but as a moviemaker and story-teller. He is included on this list as the originator of the stories and screenplays behind the Star Wars films, although he was not the actual author of the novelizations. Star Wars won the 1987 Hugo for Best Dramatic Presentation. The Empire Strikes Back won in 1981 and The Return of the Jedi won in 1984. Lucas has also written Shadow Moon and Shadow Star, with Chris Claremont. Regardless of how he is judged as an author, Lucas's tremendous impact on film, science fiction, and pop culture is undeniable.

A Canticle for Leibowitz (Hugo Award, 1961) [Ranked 2nd in Amazon.com's Best SF/F Books of the Century; Ranked 22nd by SF Vote. Link: an academic study guide to Canticle, from Washington State University.]; "The Darfsteller" (1955)

[NOTE: Perry is not famous as a science fiction/fantasy writer, but as one of the world's best-selling mystery writers. Her most famous characters are Thomas Pitt, William Monk and the Crimean nurse Hester Latterley. She is also famous for her involvement in one of New Zealand's most famous real life murder cases, which was made into director Peter Jackson's 1995 film Heavenly Creatures, starring Titanic star Kate Winslet as a young Perry.] The Cater Street Hangman (based on her novel) was nominated in the "Best Television Feature/Mini-Series" category of the Edgars. The Sins of the Wolf received the AML Award for best novel in 1994. So far, Perry's only published SF/F is the fantasy epic Tathea (winner of the 1999 AML best novel award). website

[Through the 1960's Pohl became the best editor in SF. Editor of both Galaxy and If.] Heechee series; "Fermi and Frost" (1986); Gateway (1977/1978. Also Campbell Award 1st place) ; [Also Locus award. Ranked 14th in ISFDB Top 100 Novels]; "The Meeting" (1973); Man Plus (1976. Also won Campbell Award 2nd place); The Coming of the Quantum Cats; Outnumbering the Dead; Search the Sky; Wolfbane; "Quaker Cannon"; Years of the City (Campbell Award 1st place 1985). Pohl was ranked 17th on the ISFDB Top 100 Authors list.; Made a grand master of SF by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America in 1992.

Author or co-author of novels Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979); Great Birds of the Galaxy (1992); Star Trek: The God-Thing (1995); The Star Trek Readers I thru IV (w/ James Blish); The Star Trek Scriptbooks: The Q Chronicles. Editor of anthology Best of Star Trek (1992). Best known not for prose fiction, but as writer/creator/producer of the immensely popular and influential "Star Trek" TV series and movie franchise, as well as the spin-off series "Star Trek: The Next Generation." Subsequent series based on his characters and fictional future universe include "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine", "Star Trek: Voyager" and "Star Trek: Enterprise." Other series he wrote or produced for include: Andromeda; Alias Smith and Jones; The Lieutenant; G.E. True; Target: The Corruptors; Dr. Kildare; The Detectives Starring Robert Taylor; The DuPont Show with June Allyson; Bat Masterson; Naked City; Alcoa Theatre; Have Gun - Will Travel; Boots and Saddles; West Point; The Kaiser Aluminum Hour; Dr. Christian; Highway Patrol; Jane Wyman Presents The Fireside Theatre; Mr. District Attorney; Gruen Guild Playhouse.

[1 B-a-M review] NOTE: Sagan is not primarily famous as a science fiction writer, but as an astronomer. His best known science fiction novel is Contact (1985), which was made into the movie that won the 1998 Hugo award for best dramatic presentation. Also wrote Cosmos (Hugo for non-fiction, 1981)

Mary Shelley

?

Frankenstein, considered the first science fiction novel. Also: Last Man

Robert Silverberg

Jewish

"Born With the Dead" (1974); "Nightwings" (1969); "Enter a Soldier. Later: Enter Another" (1990); "Gilgamesh in the Outback" (1987); "Passengers" (1969); A Time of Changes (1971); "Good News from the Vatican" (1971); "Sailing to Byzantium" (1985); Lord Valentine's Castle (1981); [Dying Inside was ranked 50th in the Internet Top 100 Survey, Cooke, as of Oct. 1999. Ranked 66th in ISFDB Top 100 Novels]; Runner up in 1998 Sideways Awards for "Waiting for the End"; The Stochastic Man (Campbell Award 2nd place in 1976). Silverberg was ranked 1st on the ISFDB Top 100 Authors list.

Norstrilia [Ranked 17th in Amazon.com's Best SF/F Books of the Century]; He mostly wrote interconnected short stories, which are available in together in various volumes. "No, No, Not Rogov!"; "Scanners Live In Vain"; The Rediscovery of Man: The Complete Short Science Fiction of Cordwainer Smith; Space Lords; The Instrumentality of Mankind; "Alpha Ralpha Boulevard"; Planet Buyer; The Underpeople. [Website]

[Stapledon is called the heir to H.G. Wells, and was of immeasurable importance in the early days of science fiction.] Last and First Men: A Story of the Near and Far Future; Odd John; Star Maker; Sirius; Last Men in London. Non-fiction: A Modern Theory of Ethics; Beyond the 'Isms

The Diamond Age (1995; also Locus Award; Nebula nominee) [#61 on Amazon.com's 1996 bestsellers' list; #8 best-selling SF/F book at Amazon.com in 1999]; Snow Crash [Ranked #22 in the Amazon.com Millennium Poll; #66 on Amazon.com's 1996 bestsellers' list; 4th best-selling SF/F book at Amazon.com in 1999]; Cryptonomicon [Hugo nominee; British Fantasy Society Best Novel nominee; 2nd best-selling SF/F book at Amazon.com in 1999; was 1 of just 8 SF/F books on Publishers Weekly "Best Books 99" list]; Also: "Baroque Cycle" (Quicksilver, The Confusion, The System of the World); The Big U; Zodiac: The Eco-Thriller; Interface; The Cobweb; In the Beginning...Was the Command Line; Interface. One of the only authors ever to write fiction for Time magazine.

[Straczynski is known primarily as the creator of the TV series "Babylon 5". This series has won the Hugo award for Dramatic Presentation in 1997 for the episode "Severed Dreams" and 1996 for "The Coming of Shadows".] Demon Night; Othersyde; Tales from the New Twilight Zone; Babylon 5 novels (Point of No Return; A Call to Arms; The Price of Peace); comic book author of his own series "Rising Stars" and Marvel's "Spider-Man"

[4 B-a-M reviews] The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings[The Lord of the Ringsranked 1st in the Internet Top 100 Survey, Cooke, Oct. 1999. Ranked 96th in ISFDB Top 100 Novels. Ranked 1st in the Amazon.com Millennium Poll. The Hobbit was ranked 25th. The Hobbit was ranked 11th in Amazon.com's Best SF/F Books of the Century. Ranked 12th in the Amazon.com Millennium Poll. In 1999 The Lord of the Rings was in the Harper-Collins list of 100 Best Spiritual Books of the Century.]; Silmarillion (1978) [Ranked 42nd in ISFDB Top 100 Novels]; Tolkien has 98 Yahoo links - more than any other author; Tolkien was ranked 1st, as the favorite author of the millennium, in the Amazon.com customer-based Millennium Poll.

[4 B-a-M reviews] [Wells is often called the "Father" of science fiction.] Men Like Gods; The Time Machine; The Island of Dr. Moreau; The Invisible Man; The War of the Worlds; The First Men in the Moon; The Food of the Gods; In the Days of the Comet

Book of the New Sun Tetralogy [Ranked 87th in the Internet Top 100 Survey, Cooke, Oct. 1999.]; The Urth of the New Sun; The Castle of the Otter; Soldier of the Mist (1987); Sword of the Lictor (1983) [Ranked 2nd in ISFDB Top 100 Novels]; Soldier of Arte; Operation Ares; The Fifth Head of Cerberus; Peace; The Devil in a Forest; "The Death of Doctor Island" (1973); The Claw of the Conciliator (1981) [also Locus award. Ranked 20th in Amazon.com's Best SF/F Books of the Century. Ranked 11th in ISFDB Top 100 Novels]; The Shadow of the Torturer [Ranked 8th in ISFDB Top 100 Novels. Won Campbell Award 3rd place in 1981]; Stories From the Old Hotel (1989); 1996 World Fantasy Life Achievement Award; The Citadel of the Autarch [Ranked 74th in ISFDB Top 100 Novels. Won Campbell Award 1st place in 1984.]; Calde of the Long Sun (1995 Nebula Nominee); Wolfe was ranked 5th on the ISFDB Top 100 Authors list.

[Director of the Writers of the Future Contest. Wolverton holds the world record for the largest single author book signing, in the Guinness Book of Records. The record book signing took place late 1999 with his signing of 1,845 copies of the New York Times best-selling novel, A Very Strange Trip.] Courtship of Princess Leia (New York Times Best Seller); Star Wars: Jedi Apprentice: The Rising Force; The Golden Queen; A Very Strange Trip; Lords of the Seventh Swarm; Beyond the Gate; On My Way to Paradise (won a Philip K. Dick Memorial Special Award as one of the best SF novels of 1989); Path of the Hero; Serpent Catch; The Mummy Chronicles; "After a Lean Winter" (1996 Nebula nominee for best novelette); L. Ron Hubbard's Writers of the Future Contest Grand Prize; Runelords series (written as "Dave Farland": The Runelords, The Brotherhood of the Wolf)

Roger Zelazny

?

Chronicles of Amber (including Trumps of Doom, 1986 [The First Chronicles of Amber were ranked 20th in the Internet Top 100 Survey, Cooke, Oct. 1999. 4 other works were also on this list.]); "He Who Shapes" (1965); "The Doors of His Face, the Lamps of His Mouth" (1965); "Home is the Hangman (1965); "Permafrost" (1987); "Twenty-four Views of Mount Fuji, by Hokusai" (1986); "Unicorn Variation" (1982); Lord of Light (1968) [Ranked 21st in the Internet Top 100 Survey, Cooke, Oct. 1999.]; And Call Me Conrad (1966); A Night in the Lonesome October (1994 Nebula Nominee); This Immortal; Zelazny was ranked 13th on the ISFDB Top 100 Authors list.

Additional information about the religious affiliation of these famous sf/f authors:

If known, the religious affiliation of the author is mentioned in the table above. But for these authors, a single word such as "Catholic" or "agnostic" is certainly no indicator of what their work is like. In science fiction and fantasy, a writer's worldview invariably affects their writing, but not necessarily in ways which alienate or are offensive to readers with different beliefs. Books by some of the most solidly agnostic or atheist writers on this list deal extensively with religious issues and frequently feature well-rounded, intelligent, likeable characters who are actively religious, such as the Muslim linguist in Heinlein's Stranger in a Strange Land; Palmer Joss, the Protestant preacher in Sagan's Contact; or John Mendoza, the Latter-day Saint U.S. senator in Bear's Moving Mars. On the other hand, in books by authors who are religious, the heroes are not necessarily religious. The most famous character created by the actively religious Orson Scott Card is a well-known agnostic: Ender Wiggins. Isaac Asimov, an atheist, wrote in essays that he never used his writing for any kind of proselytizing of his theological views. Indeed, Christians and other religionists who have read Asimov have frequently said they've found nothing offensive to their faith.

The worldviews of SF/F writers are a combination of traditionally recognized philosophies, such as Catholicism, atheism, rationalism, etc., as well as the science fiction and fantasy genre itself. From a sociological perspective, the community of science fiction/fantasy authors and avid readers can be categorized as a discrete belief and social community, a functional "tribe" or religion. Various markers of a religious community, such as generally-recognized practices, beliefs, taboos, sources of authority, shared history, rituals, etc. can all be identified within this tradition as much as within classically-recognized religions such as Islam or Buddhism.

If science fiction may be said to have a creed, Ben Bova may have expressed it most simply: "...the principles of science fiction [are] based on the fundamental principles of science: that the universe is understandable, and human reason can fathom the most intricate mysteries of existence, given time. Science fiction is a fundamentally optimistic literature. We tend to see the human race not as failed angels, but as evolving apes, struggling toward godhood." [Source: Ben Bova. "Introduction: The Art of Plain Speech" in Twice Seven. New York: Avon Books (1998), pg. 5.]

The "religious affiliations" provided in the table above are based on information from a variety of print and online sources, especially biographies, interviews and official web sites authorized or created by the authors. Nearly all of the affiliations provided are based on a clear statement of religious self-identification by the author. This information is never based on the content of an author's fictional writing. Some (but not all) of the source material and some additional notes pertaining to the religious affiliations of these authors can be found in the pages linked to the religious affiliation column in the table above.